Defensins are cysteine-rich cationic polypeptides that are important in the immunologic response to invading microorganisms. The protein encoded by this gene is secreted and is a member of the beta defensin protein family. Beta defensin genes are found in several clusters throughout the genome with this gene mapping to a cluster at 20p13. The encoded protein is highly similar to an epididymal-specific secretory protein (ESP13.2) from cynomolgus monkey. [provided by RefSeq Jul 2008]